Saturday, August 25
Winston-Salem, N.C.
11:00 a.m.
Air Force Academy
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Wake Forest
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1
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F
Air Force
21
25
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Wake Forest
25
22
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Falcons Claim 3-1 Victory over Wake Forest
8/25/2018 2:46:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Air Force's win over the Demon Deacons marked the program's first win over an ACC school.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Air Force volleyball team evened out its season record this morning (Aug. 25), as it claimed a 3-1 victory over Wake Forest during the second day of action at the Spartan-Demon Deacons Classic in Winston-Salem. Earning a 21-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-20 win over the Demon Deacons, the Falcons (1-1) captured the program's first-ever victory over a member of the ACC.
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Junior Denise Ssozi paced all players with 17 kills, while senior Abigail Miksch added 15. Fellow senior Lauren Heldt led the match with .545 hitting, as she tallied seven kills on 11 attempts with just one error, while classmates Shanleigh Conlan and Elizabeth Pennington paced the team in service aces (three) and blocks (two). Sophomore Andi Ahlers paced the team in assists (25), while classmate Alex King rounded out the Falcons' list of stat leaders with 21 digs – a tally just one off of her career high.
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Sophomore Kathleen Medill registered the Falcons' first offensive point of the match, while kills from Pennington and Ssozi evened the set at four. Miksch kept the score tied at eight, while Ssozi put down a kill to stave off a 4-0 run by the Demon Deacons and added another pair of scores to even the set at 14. A score from Heldt gave the Falcons a 15-14, while back-to-back kills from Miksch gave Air Force a two-point advantage (19-17). Wake Forest scored eight of the final 10 points to claim the opening set 25-21.
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The Demon Deacons took an early 5-3 lead to start the second set and pushed it out to 11-8 before a kill from Miksch sparked a 9-2 Air Force run that gave the Falcons a 17-13 advantage. Pennington, Ssozi and Medill registered kills during the run, while Ssozi teamed up for a block with sophomore Cambria Galloway. The Demon Deacons climbed back to tie the set at 22, but kills from Miksch and Ssozi helped Air Force even the match with a 25-22 set win.
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Aces from Ahlers and Conlan, as well as kills from Ssozi (three), Heldt (two) and Medill (one), saw Air Force take a 9-5 lead to open the third set and force the home team into an early timeout. Ahlers added a second ace, while Miksch, Pennington and Ssozi put down scores to push the Falcons' advantage to five (15-10). Wake Forest made another late-set run to tie the score – this time at 21 – but Pennington, Ssozi and sophomore Jordan Daniels (ace) tallied three of the last four points to give Air Force another 25-22 victory.
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The opening of the fourth set was a back-and-forth affair, with Medill, Miksch and Ssozi producing set-tying kills. An ace from Medill gave Air Force its first lead at 4-3, while Galloway and Heldt put down scores to give the Falcons a two-point advantage (6-4). The Demon Deacons tied the set at six, but the Falcons scored the next five points – behind two kills and a solo block from Ssozi – to take an 11-6 lead. Miksch added three kills to push the lead to seven (16-9), while Ssozi (two kills), Galloway (kill) and Conlan (ace) helped extend the Falcons' advantage to 21-12. Wake Forest pulled within three (23-20), but back-to-back kills from Miksch secured Air Force a 25-20 set win and the 3-1 match victory.
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"Everyone was very resilient and didn't back down," head coach Marc Swindle said. "I'm proud of the way we came back after a long night (against UNC Greensboro). It's the first Power 5 win I've had and I know that the girls are happy. Abby and Denise played incredibly well, our defensive and passing picked up, and we were able to get the middles involved, which led to some incredible hitting by Lauren. Now, we're just going to try and take a break and see if we can come back and do the same thing against Maryland."
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The Falcons return to action later today (Aug. 25), when they face Maryland at 5:00 p.m. (ET).
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Junior Denise Ssozi paced all players with 17 kills, while senior Abigail Miksch added 15. Fellow senior Lauren Heldt led the match with .545 hitting, as she tallied seven kills on 11 attempts with just one error, while classmates Shanleigh Conlan and Elizabeth Pennington paced the team in service aces (three) and blocks (two). Sophomore Andi Ahlers paced the team in assists (25), while classmate Alex King rounded out the Falcons' list of stat leaders with 21 digs – a tally just one off of her career high.
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Sophomore Kathleen Medill registered the Falcons' first offensive point of the match, while kills from Pennington and Ssozi evened the set at four. Miksch kept the score tied at eight, while Ssozi put down a kill to stave off a 4-0 run by the Demon Deacons and added another pair of scores to even the set at 14. A score from Heldt gave the Falcons a 15-14, while back-to-back kills from Miksch gave Air Force a two-point advantage (19-17). Wake Forest scored eight of the final 10 points to claim the opening set 25-21.
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The Demon Deacons took an early 5-3 lead to start the second set and pushed it out to 11-8 before a kill from Miksch sparked a 9-2 Air Force run that gave the Falcons a 17-13 advantage. Pennington, Ssozi and Medill registered kills during the run, while Ssozi teamed up for a block with sophomore Cambria Galloway. The Demon Deacons climbed back to tie the set at 22, but kills from Miksch and Ssozi helped Air Force even the match with a 25-22 set win.
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Aces from Ahlers and Conlan, as well as kills from Ssozi (three), Heldt (two) and Medill (one), saw Air Force take a 9-5 lead to open the third set and force the home team into an early timeout. Ahlers added a second ace, while Miksch, Pennington and Ssozi put down scores to push the Falcons' advantage to five (15-10). Wake Forest made another late-set run to tie the score – this time at 21 – but Pennington, Ssozi and sophomore Jordan Daniels (ace) tallied three of the last four points to give Air Force another 25-22 victory.
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The opening of the fourth set was a back-and-forth affair, with Medill, Miksch and Ssozi producing set-tying kills. An ace from Medill gave Air Force its first lead at 4-3, while Galloway and Heldt put down scores to give the Falcons a two-point advantage (6-4). The Demon Deacons tied the set at six, but the Falcons scored the next five points – behind two kills and a solo block from Ssozi – to take an 11-6 lead. Miksch added three kills to push the lead to seven (16-9), while Ssozi (two kills), Galloway (kill) and Conlan (ace) helped extend the Falcons' advantage to 21-12. Wake Forest pulled within three (23-20), but back-to-back kills from Miksch secured Air Force a 25-20 set win and the 3-1 match victory.
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"Everyone was very resilient and didn't back down," head coach Marc Swindle said. "I'm proud of the way we came back after a long night (against UNC Greensboro). It's the first Power 5 win I've had and I know that the girls are happy. Abby and Denise played incredibly well, our defensive and passing picked up, and we were able to get the middles involved, which led to some incredible hitting by Lauren. Now, we're just going to try and take a break and see if we can come back and do the same thing against Maryland."
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The Falcons return to action later today (Aug. 25), when they face Maryland at 5:00 p.m. (ET).
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Team Stats
AF
WF
Kills
55
43
Errors
17
20
Attempts
138
123
Hitting %
.275
.187
Points
65.0
60.5
Assists
53
39
Aces
7
10
Blocks
3.0
7.5
Game Leaders
Kills
17
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
S
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's Volleyball
RS
/ Women's VolleyballMH/MB
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
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